J.P. is crushed that Ashley supposedly got intimate with Ben. Now friends are concerned that this could mean the couple’s end!

BacheloretteAshley Hebert and her fiance J.P. Rosenbaum seem so in love. They couldn’t keep their hands off of each other during The Men Tell All special Aug. 1 and during their interviews on Good Morning America and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. But off screen, the couple is dealing with a harsh reality that may tear them apart. Friends close to the couple say that J.P.’s completely outraged that Ashley reportedly slept with Ben Flajnik the night before he proposed, and that he’s just not letting it go!

“There have been major issues. J.P. can’t seem to get past Ashley’s night with Ben,” a source close to the show tells Star magazine. “She definitely slept with him, and J.P. is spitting mad.”

While Ashley and J.P. are desperately trying to overcome this major hurdle, it’s hard to move forward when dejected Ben’s been bragging about his relations with Ashley. “Ben has some growing up to do,” Ashley’s pal says. “I think by talking about having sex with Ashley he is trying to appease his male ego. Ben really liked Ashley; he was completely crushed when she didn’t pick him.”

Former Bachelorettewinner Jesse Csincsak reveals that it’s common practice for the Bachelorette to have sex her final two contenders. “Everyone always sleeps with the finale two, and I’ve heard this season was no different,” Jesse notes. “The problem of hooking up with both finalists has been the downfall of many of the show’s engagements.”

“In a normal world, you don’t have to see your fiancee recorded on camera hooking up with another guy,” adds Jesse. “But on this show, that’s just how it works. Not only does the contestant see his fiancee cheating, so do all your friends and family. Inevitably, that makes you feel second best.”

While J.P. refused to watch the full season finale — he admitted to Jimmy Kimmel that he only saw his part, not Ben’s — the idea of what happened between Ashley and Ben behind closed doors still haunts him.

And even though Ashley and J.P. are on track to saying, “I do” — there’s still trouble in paradise over this situation. “It’s tough times,” a friend acknowledges. “Make no mistake about it.”

BFFs — do you think it was wrong of Ashley to sleep with Ben the night before she got engaged to J.P.?